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Best Cities 2010: 5 Worst Cities for Health

The bottom cities on our list could stand to improve in a few areas to make them a healthier place to raise kids. What do you think: did we get it right? Plus, find out which cities ranked the best for education and recreation options

Of the cities and towns we surveyed, these 5 are the unhealthiest spots for families. Bad news for California; three of the five worst are located the nation's third largest state. Here, we round up the bottom of the barrel in the health category.

(Our list was compiled by using a list of the top 100 cities by population, adding in well-known smaller cities too, and removing cities so close to other large cities that they would have similar data. Then we crunched numbers in three health criteria categories to come up with our list.)

Los Angeles, CADespite a decent number of quality pediatricians, Los Angeles is dragged down by its terrible smog problem, which results in very poor air quality.

Arlington, TX Part of the Dallas-Forth Worth area urban sprawl, Arlington suffers from poor air quality due to heavy dependence on cars (a hazardous materials incineration plant in nearby Midlothian doesn't help either).

Detroit, MIThe motor city's lack of top-tier children's hospitals, skilled family physicians and its unsurprising dependency on cars (and the ensuing air quality issues) make Detroit a city that needs improvement.